Language Variation and Change Concepts and Definitions
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Language Variation and Change Concepts and definitions WS 2014/15, Campus Essen Raymond Hickey, English Linguistics 1 Speaker contact and its effects 2 Accent 1) A reference to pronunciation, i.e. the collection of phoneticfeatures which allow speakers to be identified regionally and/or socially. Frequently it indicates that someone does not speak the standardform of a language, cf. He speaks with a strong accent. 2) The stress placed on a syllable of a word or the type of stress used by a language (volume, length and/or pitch). In the International Phonetic Alphabet primary accent is shown with a superscript vertical stroke placed before the stressed syllable as in polite [p@"laIt]. A subscript stroke indicates secondary stress, e.g. a "black\bird (compound word) versus a "black "bird (syntactic group). 3 Rule A formulation of a regular process in a language and/or the internalised knowledge of this process (from early language acquisition). Forinstance, the rule for forming an adverb from an adjective consists of adding -ly to the latter as in quick > quickly. Rules are not watertight, e.g. friendly is an adjective although it ends in -ly, because most processes in languages are regular with a small number of exceptions. This may be the residue of an historical process which was not carried through to completion or may be due to the fact that a form does not match the input necessary for a rule, cf. friendly which cannot take the adverbial ending /-li/. Because native speakers do not experience difficulty in mastering exceptions there is rarely a ‘cleanup’operation in a language to remove exceptions. Exceptions can attain sociolinguistic significance if they become indicative of a certain variety, e.g. the irregular distribution of long /A;/ in RP, contrast bland /blænd/ and blast /blA;st/. This type of situation can lead to hypercorrection with speakers saying /plA;stIk/ for plastic /plæstIk/, for instance. 4 Accommodation A term from sociology (used primarily by Howard Giles) and applied to sociolinguistics, above all by the British sociolinguist Peter Trudgill. It assumes that when speakers are in face-to-face interaction with other speakers they will adapt their speech to that of their interlocutors, perhaps in an effort to make them feel at ease or to be socially accepted by them. If this accommodation occurs across an entire community then it can leadto new dialects which contain combinations of input features. Accommodation is taken to be responsible for the reduction in differences betweendialects and for the rise of intermediate forms. It does not take place via the media (Trudgill1986: 40 [1.2.3]). Additionally, individuals who leave a rural area, go to a city and return are accommodated to as they are regardedas being carriers of prestige forms by local inhabitants. 5 Hypercorrection A linguistic situation in which speakers overgeneralisea feature or structure which they do not have in their native variety. For example, if some northern English speakers pronounce butcher /bUtS@/, with the vowel in but, i.e. as /bVtS@/, then this would be hypercorrection as they would not have /V/ in their own vernacular and, in an effort to speak standard English, overapplythe /U/- to-/V/ shift. If this happens in an entire community during accommodation then one can speak of hyperadaptation. 6 Network, social A series of connections which individuals have with those they interact with socially. Networks, as the notion was developed for linguistics by James and Lesley Milroy, can be simplex or multiplex and can show weak or strong ties. Vernacular speakers, typically members of non-prestigious social groups with less access to higher education, are liable to have strong ties in multiplex networks. Middle-class speakers on the other hand tend to partake in weak-tie networks. Network strength A measure of the ties which individuals show in their social networks. Strong ties inhibit change as they are also an index of how closely speakers adhere to the vernacular norms of their community. 7 Vernacular A cover term for popular, spoken varieties which are usually strongly localised and not influenced by a standard which might be present in the region where they are spoken. They are typically used by people who do not belong to the educated middle classes of a society and vernaculars do not necessarily have a written form though they may be (partially) represented using specially adapted spellings. Vernacular norms According to the linguists James and Lesley Milroy language usage is determined in vernacular-speaking networks by their own internal norms and not by public notions of a standard. These norms serve to maintain network identity and internal cohesion and govern the range of features found at any one time in a network with the possibility of change occurring through the introduction of innovations from outside. Vernacular norms are not explicitly codified (unlike standard varieties) and are transmitted orally across generations. 8 Prestige An attribute of varieties which is determined by how they are viewed by speakers. Usually a standard variety enjoys highest prestige in a community and is favoured in public and official usage. Other varieties enjoy correspondingly less prestige. If a particular variety has a long tradition and high awareness then it may have increased prestige compared with other non-standard varieties. This is the case with Cockney in England which has a certain status as the vernacular of the capital which other urban varieties do not necessarily have. Prestige, overt and covert A reference to different kinds of prestige. Overt prestige is usually enjoyed by a standard which is explicitly codified, e.g. in grammars, usage manuals and dictionaries. Covert prestige is a characteristic of vernaculars: speakers do not openly praise them, but their local identity function means thatthey favour them over more standard varieties in community-internal communication. 9 Community of practice A concept from sociology which refers to those individuals who share a particular occupation or engage in a common activity. This has been analysed from a linguistic point of view to see whether language norms are determined by communities of practice and whether these can initiate language change. Examples of communities of practice would be people who share a certain profession, like bus-drivers, or a common pasttimeor form of sports, e.g. football players. Interloper A person who participates in two speech communities. In the opinion of some sociolinguists, such as J. K. Chambers, such individuals can be important in transmitting language change from one community to another and thus cause change to spread socially and also geographically. 10 Linguistic marketplace A notion introduced originally by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieuand adopted into linguistics by David Sankoffand Suzanne Laberge(see Sankoffand Laberge1978 [1.1.1]) and further applied by the Canadian linguist J. K. Chambers (Chambers 2009, Chapter 5 [1.1.1]) when referring to the fact that speakers’ linguistic choices are determined by their position in society, either perceived or actual. Young adults make adjustments in accent and dialect whenthey take up occupations that require speech skills –sales, teaching, etc. Chambers stresses that men and women act differently in the linguistic marketplace. 11 Change from above, below A classification of the sources of language change introduced byWilliam LABOV. Change from above is a conscious process, i.e. above the level of social awareness, and is initiated by a socially dominant group.For example, the borrowings of words or structures from other languages; this often runs parallel to extra linguistic changes such as the riseof an educated middle class. Change from below, on the other hand, is a largely unconscious process, below the level of social awareness, often occurring in the speech low-prestige groups leading to shifts in vernacular norms. 12 Labov [l@"bQv, l@"boUv], William(1927-) American linguist and founder of the modern discipline of sociolinguistics. Labovstarted his linguistic career with an investigation of the English used on a small island (Martha’s Vineyard) off the coast of Massachusetts and of English in New York city. In both instances he demonstrated conclusively that the use of language, above all systematic variation, was determined by social factors such as upward mobility or group solidarity. These findings triggered much further research into language and society which has led to many insightful studies, particularly in the English-speaking world. Labov’swork has also led to a reassessment of the methods and assumptions of historical linguistics. 13 Survey, rapid and anonymous A survey technique which William LABOV first employed for his investigation of New York English in the early 1960s. This consisted of briefly eliciting information from informants who were not aware that their speech was being observed. This was done by asking a question or two containing the sounds of interest, e.g. Q: Where can I find XXX? A: On the fourth floor (casual reply), Q: Sorry? A: On the fourth floor (more careful reply). 14 Diffusion, cascade model of Diffusion of language change which takes place by going from oneurban centre to another without affecting the intervening countryside. An instance would be the spread of TH-FRONTING to urban centresaround England which are far from London without the rural areas between being affected. The question of size seems to be an important factor with larger cities adopting change before smaller ones. Diffusion, counterhierarchical Diffusion of language change which involves the spread of features from a rural to an urban setting. It is labelled‘counterhierarchical’because this is the opposite of what usually happens. There are a few cases such as the spread of rural fixin’to into urban areas of Oklahoma. 15 Founder principle A term used to refer to the influence of early settlers on the development of a variety.